I nod once.
“And fertility?” I ask because I’m not pretending this isn’t part of the calculation.
Rowan answers without judgment. “No red flags. Statistically favourable. Nothing inherited from the maternal side that would automatically disqualify.”
Disqualify.
The word settles heavily in the room.
“And the father?” I ask.
Rowan flips again. “Same father listed on both birth certificates. No current contact. No financial support. No digital footprint past fifteen years. No criminal record. No known aliases.”
“He disappeared,” I say.
“Yes.”
Voluntarily.
I exhale slowly through my nose.
Lucy Bennett didn’t just grow up without a safety net.
She grew up without a fallback, and I recognize that kind of childhood.
Rowan watches me closely now. “You want my assessment?”
“Yes.”
“She’s clean,” he says. “No litigation exposure. No reputational risk. No conflicting loyalties. No romantic entanglements that could surface publicly.”
“And personally?” I press.
Rowan considers. “She doesn’t ask for help. She doesn’t frame herself as a victim. She solves problems quietly and absorbs the cost.”
“Which means?”
“Which means she won’t enter an arrangement like this lightly,” Rowan says.
I nod.
“I know,” I say.
And I do.
That’s what makes her viable.
Rowan hesitates. “If this is about optics...”
“It’s not,” I cut in.
He waits.
I adjust. “It’s not only about optics.”
Rowan inclines his head. “Then you’re aware this carries risk.”
“Yes,” I say. “But it’s contained.”
